Some 80 percent of white, evangelical Christians voted for President Trump. Now, some want a policy change that could undermine a future Palestinian state.
Evangelical Christian leaders who delivered votes to President Trump are now pressing him to declare that Israel can claim ownership of the West Bank, based on a promise God made to the Jews in the Bible.
They are seeking a way to pave a path toward annexation of territory that is widely viewed internationally as intended for a future Palestinian state. Israel seized the territory as part of a war between it, Jordan, Egypt and Syria in 1967 and has occupied it since. In recent years, the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been encouraging Jewish settlers to build homes there at an increasing rate.
Prominent evangelical supporters of Mr. Trump are mounting a multipronged approach to pressure the president — making appearances in Israel, petitioning the White House, pushing their ideas at a key evangelical conference and building congressional backing.
Some of America’s leading evangelicals, including Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins and Mario Bramnick, visited Jerusalem on Tuesday to publicly back Israel’s sovereignty of the West Bank.
“I literally feel God is giving Israel a blank check,” said Mr. Bramnick, the president of the Latino Coalition for Israel and the pastor of a Florida church whose profile ballooned after he hosted prayer calls in support of claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Mr. Trump.
These evangelical leaders are part of a movement called Christian Zionism and believe that the land was given to the Jews in the Bible.